News Search

'Prime BEEF' Reservists train in Dominican Republic

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Christina A. Wright
  • 419th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
HILL AIR FORCE BASE, UT --  The 419th Fighter Wing's Civil Engineering Squadron's "Prime BEEF" team recently spent 17 days in the Dominican Republic building a bare base alongside the Army National Guard and the Dominican Republic Army.

The team provided humanitarian relief as part of Combined Joint Task Force Barahona. The 419th FW CES sent 42 of its Airmen to augment the Army National Guard.

"We built a base camp for the Army National Guard to support a humanitarian effort," said Master Sgt. Joseph Moulton, of the 419th CES, who served as operations supervisor during the deployment.

Sergeant Moulton worked on the new base's plans, construction, purchasing, and helped with plumbing.

Prime BEEF, or the Base Engineer Emergency Forces team is made up of civil engineering utilities; heating, ventilation, air conditioning; operations; plumbing; and electrical components experts.

The updated base camp now houses Army National Guard facilities and personnel who will administer humanitarian aid to local residents who are still suffering the aftermath of a severe hurricane that hit there in 2004. Part of the base now consists of stations where local people can receive dental, medical and surgical services.

"We've been planning this for months. Being able to go down and actually build was great," Sergeant Moulton said.

The Prime BEEF team started planning its efforts in November 2005 and worked with the Air Force's Southern Command, Air Force Reserve Command, the West Virginia Army National Guard, the Dominican Republic military, and New Horizons, a humanitarian relief organization.

The Prime BEEF team transformed the bare base into a "tent city" made up of 40 tents, six separate work sites, two aid stations, a chapel, a guard shack, and a new perimeter fence.

In addition to the new construction, the Prime BEEF members completed many jobs that were not in the original plans despite overall supply shortages.

"We repaired some broken water lines and returned water to homes that had gone without for nearly four months," said Chief Master Sgt. Kirby Stephens.

The team's HVAC and utilities teams supplied water to the base by rigging a pump using old ice machine parts.

"We were piecing stuff in wherever we could fit them," said HVAC supervisor, Master Sergeant Bryan Wendt, who helped assemble the make-shift water pump.

The 419th engineers worked 10 hours a day in the hot and humid weather, but also tried to establish some friendships with the Dominican Republic military that guarded the base while they worked.

The language barrier was difficult, but they would share meals and play cards after work, Sergeant Moulton said.

The Reserve Airmen that participated in the joint exercise also took their own gifts for the needy people in the area. Food and clothes were distributed during limited down time from the strenuous work schedule.